San Jose Discounts

San Jose's free attractions

San Jose is a charming locale known or its stunning natural beauty and ideal location in the Bay Area. It's also the third biggest metropolis in California, making it necessary to have a San Jose car rental to get around. Luckily, Thrifty Car Rental offers great San Jose deals for visitors to this delightful city. If you're on a tight budget during your trip, you can also try sticking to some of the destination's more affordable attractions, such as these free sites:

Lick Observatory

Your San Jose car rental will come in handy for this excursion: You'll drive up to this 4,300-foot-high astronomical outpost via Mount Hamilton Road, which takes you up a twisting, turning path with gorgeous views. The Lick Observatory is owned and maintained by the University of California, which offers free guided tours of the main refracting telescope. The site is open to the public weekdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The city gardens

With the help of their San Jose rental cars, visitors can take a tour of the many lush gardens scattered about this destination. The San Jose Heritage Rose Garden is among the most popular, showcasing a colorful display of these delicate perennials. In fact, it's so expansive that it requires volunteers to keep the flowers fed and healthy throughout the year. Afterward, head to the Japanese Friendship Garden located on Senter Road in a clearing of Kelley Park. It was created to resemble Okayama's Korakuen Garden, featuring a tranquil koi pond, waterfalls and streams (you can even feed the fish with food pellets you buy from a vending machine).